Ever since West was barely more than a pollywog, he’d been fascinated by these creatures. The silent, intelligent predators were entrancing. They crept up on their prey with their verdant camouflage, then stuck and bit their head off before it could find the means to fight back. He had admired their leaflike bodies, the pearly gleam of their multifaceted eyes, their strange, rocking movements.

Mantises weren’t usually quite so large, though.

West counted five of the things, each as tall as his waist at the shoulder. Unlike their cousins in nature, the greater length of their wicked forelegs were jagged scythes, serrated like a normal mantid’s for grasping at the tip. The sharp edges looked ready to slice chunks of flesh right off a body to stuff in greedy mandibles. Being caught by one of these would end with blood, screaming, and death by pieces.

The mantids made clicking sounds at each other, scrambling for position as they paced the end of the hall, measuring the distance to the three juicy-looking morsels staring back at them. The sound of their feet scratching on the stone set the hairs on the back of West’s neck on end.

"Lím," Sunny whispered urgently. Lím climbed to Sunny's shoulder on his own four feet, freeing her hands.

West’s mind cleared into a crystalline calm. He inhaled slowly, drawing the energy of his Pond through his bloodstream. His senses sharpened to a keen edge as he tracked the hunters’ movements.

"Sunneh, keep to the back and look after yerself." West didn't worry how blunt he sounded. To her credit, Sunny didn't breathe a word of objection, backing a few cautious steps behind him. Just like old times. She’d always had a good head on her shoulders in a fight, keeping where she was needed, knowing when to step in and when to stay back.

Even the small motion of one of their prey pulling back stirred the prowling group. They jostled each other in their excitement, barely holding themselves back from charging.

From around the far curve of the hall, a massive, lumbering form appeared. Its mantis-like form had only scant centimeters of clearance between its head and the stone ceiling. If its claws didn’t have the same razor-sharpness as its smaller brethren, its terrible mandibles were powerful enough to cleave a person in half in a single bite.

This was what the smaller hunters had been waiting for. With the behemoth at their backs, they crept down the hall at a stalking pace.

Roman backed away, sword and shield held firmly between him and the approaching menace. "I can't help noticing we're slightly outnumbered. How many can you handle?"

Keeping pace with the swordsman, West grimaced. “Likely be, I could take the lot o' them if it were jes' meself to be worryin' about. But if I'm lookin' after the lass and ye–”

"I can take care of my share, thank you kindly," Roman objected, giving West a frosty sideways glance without turning his face from the mantises down the hall.

"Be it as that may, we’ll have better odds if we don't fight the whole lot at once. The big one doesnae move so fast, does he?"

Observing the largest of the creatures lumbering forward, Roman nodded. "We move further down, then. We draw them out and take them one at a time."

“Aye,” West agreed. "Sunneh, get a move ahead o' us."

"I'm not– we can't risk getting separated–”

"Yer too slow to keep pace once we get goin’, and we cannae risk ye fallin' behind. Go ahead, and we'll be righ’ behind ye. Try and find a chokepoint." When Sunny still hesitated, he glared firmly over his shoulder. “We cannae move ‘til ye do!”

“R… right then.” She faded a few steps back, but still hesitated. “P… please be care–“

“Get moving, please, you stupid girl,” Roman growled.

Shutting her mouth and setting her jaw, Sunny turned and fled down the hall.

The sight of running prey set the mantids into a frenzy. The lithe hunters surged forward in hops and lunges, then were on them in a flurry.

In his peripheral vision, he saw as Roman caught a slashing limb from a hopping mantis on his shield. Another came sweeping down for the swordsman’s ankles. A third mantis came lunging at West. With a surge of energy from his Pond, he slipped around to the side and caught a hand around its thorax, using its momentum to whip it around. When it stumbled at the unexpected change in direction, he slammed it against the floor.

Before he could follow up with an attack though, the fourth mantis came rushing in at him. At the same time from the corner of his eye, West saw Roman jump back. With a grunt, West shoved his captured mantis into the path of its oncoming comrade and gave ground as well. Being separated in these circumstances could turn deadly, fast.

The assault so far was more coordinated than West would have expected from insectoids. Three struck, one after the other, and the fourth and fifth remained at ready; then one slipped back, the next stepped in, and the onslaught continued. Against the amassed pack and keeping close to his companion, it was all West could do to block and dodge.

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“Disengage!” Roman ordered. West didn’t question it, grunting agreement as he slammed down a striking forelimb. He and Roman turned and dashed down the hallway to put some ground between them and their assailants.

The creatures skittered and hopped after them, fluttering their wings for short bursts of speed. The five hunters could match the pair’s retreat without losing their group cohesion, only letting their prey slip as far ahead as they wanted. West hopped nimbly to the side a moment before two slashing limbs scissored where he’d been; a tear of fabric signaled a cut to Roman’s back, held off by his chain shirt but causing him to stumble a step.

A few more paces though, and the mantises began to fall back. West glanced over his shoulder. The large mantis was trailing further and further behind. The little ones might be able to keep up, but they didn’t seem eager to abandon their companion. The tiniest bit of relief steadied West’s breath.

“That’s as good as it’s going to get,” Roman called. “Ready to make a stand?”

“Nae, keep goin’, laddie!”

Irritation flashed over Roman's face– he was the shot-caller, after all– but since West showed no signs of slowing, he could only keep pace.

They ran, the sounds of their footsteps bouncing down the curved hall, breaths coming a bit harder and faster the whole way.

Ahead, West finally spotted Sunny. She’d found a doorway, but it wasn’t much of a chokepoint– the opening to the chamber beyond was huge. She seemed to think it a better spot to put up a fight than gambling on continuing down the hall though, standing at its cusp with Lím on her shoulders and her hands clutching the front of her dress anxiously.

“Snakeskins!” swore West as he and Roman slid to a stop at the doorway. “We’ll be fightin’ ‘em at once after all–”

Something unnatural sparked. An etheric globe spun into the path of an oncoming hunter, a shimmering light painted in muted indigos with bright, shifting golden sparks. The mantis halted so suddenly that its chitinous legs scraped the stone floor. With its sharp forelimbs, it threatened the floating object.

Before it could strike, the globe burst. The sparks zigged and zagged, leaving trails of bright color in the air that swirled and twirled. Where they touched the mantis, soft curls of enchantment transfixed its attention. Enthralled, the mantis swayed and bobbed in place as another magic orb began coalescing before it. One of its brethren slowed to call its attention, but the rest charged forward– and like that, the pack's formation had broken.

“I’ll k-keep that one distracted,” Sunny called, eyes focused as she picked out faint threads of spellcraft with her fingers.

The appearance of the spell brought Roman to fresh alert, swiveling his head toward its caster.

“On yer guard, Roman!” West barked. There was no time to coddle the swordsman. Roman would have to adapt to the fact Sunny was a magicker, and West would deal with any fallout later. He didn’t have the chance to confirm whether the warrior was back on point– save for Sunny’s enthralled one, the hunters had approached near enough to strike.

The first rushed in with a leap, slashing its forelimb in a powerful arc. West slipped outside the range of the blow, then ducked close again. The hunter fixed one eye on him before a hail of fists took it, slamming on its foreleg and carapace. West’s shiny-bright knuckles smoked and sizzled where they smashed into the creature’s exoskeleton, searing corrosive scars. The impact of the blows knocked the hunter off-balance, but the strikes couldn’t break through. They must have hurt though, as the mantis retreated in a flurry of jerking limbs.

“Goin’ to be appreciatin’ that blade o’ yers, laddie!” West called, pushing forward to the next mantis.

West caught a welcome glimpse of the swordsman pressing two deft cuts against the next creature. Both times though, the lightweight gladius lacked the heft for anything more than superficial scores. Grimacing, Roman switched his grip, lashing out with short, vicious jabs– but here, the mantis was too quick. It maneuvered around the strikes and slashed back, forcing Roman behind his shield.

“Won’t these damned things hold still one second?” Roman snarled, throwing his weight behind his shield to knock the mantis back. Its legs skittered on the stone blocks. Roman's gladius came stabbing under the shield. The point broke through the chitinous armor of the mantis’s right claw, a distracting but not fully disabling blow.

As the third and fourth mantises caught up, the hunters got their fill of the frontline skirmishers. Somewhere between one step and the next, West felt the pack tensing for a rush.

“Move back!” West warned. One mantis swung at him, and he landed a punishing blow to its side for its trouble. Above him, he heard a buzz of wings, and ducked. The attack he expected didn’t come, though– instead, he caught sight as two of the mantises skipped through the air onto the other side of the defense.

Alarm rang out in West’s head, and he hopped to the side and twisted around, getting a side angle to the line of combat. One of the two mantids behind the broken frontline had already pushed further down the hall, while the other turned on Roman. Flanked, Roman pushed against the safety of the wall, and he focused his sword’s edge on deflecting the blows slipping around his shield.

Meanwhile, Sunny balked as the leading mantis approached and shifted her spellwork to stall it. So close to prey, the mantis didn’t distract easily. Even a series of three orbs served only to stagger and confuse it, not ensorcell it into a dazed stupor as the other had been.

Down the hall, the final hunter raised its head, reorienting after its enthrallment. With a screech, it rushed to rejoin its fellows.

Absorbing the changing flow of the combat at a glance, West felt his heart pound harder. This was getting real bad, real fast.

The mantis squaring off against him lept for him. West slipped around his attacker, slamming an elbow under its thorax on the way by. With a lunge, he caught the mantis between Roman and the doorway by one leg, pulling it back and away from the swordsman. It whipped its jagged claws around, drawing a sharp red line across West’s arm. Barely flinching, West pressed into his heels and flung it away, back between him and his recovering assailant. We cannae keep goin’ like this, damn it!

“I said to get back,” West shouted again. “Regroup in the room!” Roman, catching a clumsy blow with his gladius and shoving his remaining assailant back with a boot, made quick tracks to the doorway that Sunny had already vanished through.

Alone in the hall with the hunters, West planted his feet and readied his fists, daring them to gang up on him. But to his dismay, the pack maneuvered around him to chase after easier prey. “Oh, hell.” He sped after.

He caught the lead mantis at the turn into the doorway, launching a lightning one-two punch that cracked against its armored body. The blows toppled it, dazed. The other two mantises surged forward while he was distracted though, chasing his companions into the room. West spared a scant glance down the hall– no sign of the big one catching up yet. Something bothered him about that, but he didn’t have time to give it thought.

Taking a breath, West charged into the room beyond.